Nice to see hard-core fans are the same, regardless of the topic. Paul Herman
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2001 6:58 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [rehfans] Independent article on LOTR movies Hmm, maybe REH fans should try demanding the same in the next version of the Conan movie(s)? Must also add, I find it a tragedy that "fans" are rushing out to learn Quenta, an imaginary language created by Tolkien, while most of the real Celtic languages are languishing and finding anybody aside from literature PhDs who can read Old English, Old Norse, or Old Welsh is a rarity. Later, MEH ################################################## The campaign for real Tolkein How do you film a book that has been read by 50 million people, has 400 websites dedicated to it, and whose fans have not only taken on the names of the characters, but are capable of conversing in the book's invented languages? The answer, says Kathy Marks, is very carefully indeed 10 November 2001 The 12-page email arrived in my mailbox at 5am New York time, a lucid, passionately argued polemic against the forthcoming trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's cult novel, Lord of the Rings. It was written by a Manhattan law student who goes by the Elvish nickname of Kelannar, and the main target of his vitriol was Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director currently putting the final touches to the first film in an editing suite in Wellington. "Peter Jackson is an arrogant director who is raping the text," he thundered. In the arcane world of internet chatrooms, Kelannar is notorious. Banned from one leading Tolkien website after his inflammatory remarks caused online riots, he is now stirring up trouble at another. A devout Catholic, he prays that Jackson will see the error of his ways. He insists that his real name not be published; he fears he would be lynched. Kelannar may be an extreme case, but countless hardcore fans share his obsession. Fifty million people around the globe have read Lord of the Rings, the 20th century's most popular book, and many have re-read it dozens of times. They have dissected it chapter by chapter, recited it at costumed gatherings and waited half a century to see it transformed to the screen. Now, with the first film to be released just before Christmas, they are swooning with excitement and trepidation in equal degrees. Will the films faithfully depict Middle Earth, Tolkien's fantastical universe peopled by elves, hobbits, orcs and dwarves? Will they preserve his inimitable dialogue, capture the essence of his epic masterpiece, convey his towering moral concerns? Will they reflect the Oxford philologist's unique vision, or will they be a Hollywood travesty that will warp the perceptions of movie-goers who have never opened the book? These are the questions that have consumed Tolkien devotees since Jackson and New Line Cinema, the Los Angeles-based production company, announced the ambitious �180m project three years ago. Readers flocked online to articulate their angst, discovering 400 websites where "Ringers" congregated to converse in Quenya - one of Tolkien's fictional languages - and discuss such burning issues as whether elves have pointy ears. The sites became a clearing-house for rumours about the films. Fans argued about the impact of changes to the plot and salivated over photographs snatched by intrepid New Zealanders who snooped around the film sets during Jackson's 15- month shoot in his own backyard. Was it true that Sean Connery would play the ancient wizard Gandalf, they demanded as they swarmed around the myriad messageboards. (The answer was no. The role went to Ian McKellen.) Had Sam, companion of the hobbit Frodo, been turned into a girl? (Again, no.) Should the Balrog, a demonic monster described only sketchily by Tolkien, be given wings? But it was not only their unslakeable thirst for information that kept Tolkienheads up all night, debating topics such as "Decent portrayal of elves: perfectly impossible?" and "The wimpification of Frodo: true or false?" They suspected that New Line executives, perhaps even Jackson himself, were monitoring the online frenzy - and they hoped to influence the final outcome of the films. Rest at http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/news/story.jsp?story=104142
